Know That I Am the Lord
I believe that we are facing one of those times in America when God must prove to the unbelievers and believers alike that He is Lord. A time when God is willing to display his ability to remove a Pharaoh Type leader that’s willing to oppress His people.
Those who believe in God should always remember that God is the Lord of all; yet, that’s not always the case, for we are facing a United States President who leads as though he is Lord of all. He has thrown dust in the eyes of the American people by offering up obfuscating or distracting information that has prevented a little more than thirty percent of Americans from seeing his corrupt desire to become an oppressive leader with all power. Donald J Trump does so as if God is pleased with or powerless to interrupt his proclivity for taking aggressive, oppressive and hard hearted actions against others.
During one of my most recent questions for God, I asked, ‘Why it is Lord that you seem to be tolerating the hard- hearted ways of Trump and those that follow him?” It’s a hard heart that feels it’s justifiable to punish, deprive, divide, harm and disregard the humanity of people all because of the color of their skin or ethnicity.
God answered my question by reminding me about the story of Pharaoh who was determined to recapture and returned the Israelites back to slavery. Trump is pushing a white nationalist movement and just like Pharaoh, he is seeking to re-enslaved African-Americans and keep other people of color out of America. Sadly, there is a host of white evangelicals which supports that same white nationalist ideology but calls it “conservative principles.”
Pharaoh could not resist pursuing the freed Israelites in order to return them to slavery, because the 14th Chapter of Exodus says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. This only led to another question, why would God hardened Pharaoh’s heart? A hardened heart would only lead Pharaoh to disregard Israel’s humanity by oppressing and enslaving them.
God said that He would hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would follow the Israelites: and God would get His honor upon Pharaoh and all that followed him into the trap that God was going to set. And then God said, the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I get my honor upon Pharaoh. The biblical accounts says that God miraculously opened a path within the Red Sea and let the Israelites go through on dry land; but when the hard hearts of Pharaoh and his army followed, God rolled the waters back into the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptians. In essence, it was a set up. God set Pharaoh up for a fall.
Like the Children of Israel, the African Americans and other people of color are being pursued by Donald Trump, the pharaoh of today. Once again, God has hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his army of followers, so as to prove to America that He (God) is the Lord. He is the God that will lead the hard-hearted into an awaiting trap! He is the God that will punish the hard-hearted, restore justice and raise up the oppressed!
There are some white evangelicals that would have you believed that God put Pharaoh (Trump) in office to “make America great again.” I tend to agree from the standpoint that America is already great, but I do believe that God raised up Trump with a hard heart, so that God might prove to America that He still destroys hard hearts. He is the Lord thy God that got the honor when He brought down Pharaoh and his host. He is the Lord that will bring down the hard hearts of America, bring forth love and raise up the church where all colors of skin are welcome.
Rev. Reuben J. Boyd Jr.